Extension-table.



PATENTED OCT. 15, 1907.

E. A. FULLER. EXTENSION TABLE. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 19. 1906.

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No. 868,423. PATE'NTED 005?. 15, 1907.

B; A. FULLER; EXTENSION TABLE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 19, 1906.

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Will! I i' W/TNESSE lNVENTOh? Emory .Zif'a ZZer Byhw g A TTORNEYS UNTTED STATES EMORY A. FULLER, OF MASON, MICHIGAN.

EXTE N SIGN-TAB LE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15, 1907.

Application filed July 19,1906. $erial No. 326,880.

To all wlzom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMORY A. FULLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Mason, in the county of Ingham and State of Michigan, have invent ed a new and Improved Extension-Table, of which the following is a full. clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in extension tables for diningrooms, or for other purposes, the object being to provide a table of this character, in which the usual removable extension leaves are dispensed with. that may be extended or contracted with very little effort, that will be light, yet strong, and that may be manufactured at a moderate cost.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the general description. I

I will describe an extension table embodying my invention, and then point out the novel features in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a bottom plan of an extension table embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an end view of extension slats employed, and which when extended, form a portion of the table top; Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the same; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the tracks employed at one end of the table; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the tracks at the opposite end of the table; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the extension slats; and Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a hinge member employed.

The table comprises a fixed central portion consisting of side boards 5, to the top of which is attached a table top board 6; this fixed top 6 is here indicated as formed of two boards, but this obviously, is not necessary. The opposite side boards 5 are connected at the under side by cross cleats 7. Movable inward and outward relatively to the central portion of the table are frame members 8, 8. v

Extended inward respectively from the upper and lower sides of the side boards 5 are strips 9, 10 which are provided at their inner sides with channels for receiving tongue portions of the strips 11, 12 which are secured to the end frames 8 and 8 respectively. At the inner sides. the strips 11. 12, are provided with tongues for engaging in channels formed in strips 13, 14, secured to the fixed portion of the table and the inner sides of these strips 13, 14, are provided with channels for receiving the tongues on the members 15 and 16 secured to the frames 8 and 8 respectively, the inner ends of the members 15 being connected together by the cross bar 17, and the ends of the members 16 by the cross bar 18. The parts 11 and 15 of the end frame Secured to each side of the end frame 8 is a plate 19,

each being provided with an inwardly extended track 20 and the ends of these plates and tracks are curved downward as indicated at 21, then upward as at 22 and then inward as at 23. Below the track sections on the straight portions of the plates 19 are inwardly extended flanges 24 and these straight portions are slidable on flanges 25 attached to the inner sides of the opposite side boards 5, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2. Attached to the opposite end frame 9, and at the opposite sides thereof, are plates 26 provided with inwardly extended track members 27, and flanges 28 below the same. These track members 27 have straight portions as has also the plate as in the first instance, but the outer ends are curved upward as indicated at 29. and then extended forward as indicated at 30. The straight portion of the plate 26 is designed to slide upon the upper surface of the strips 10, which, with the flanges 25 may be termed supporting tracks; and it will be noted that the tracks are arranged one above the other, so that said straight portions may be pushed wholly underneath the fixed top section of the table; that is, so that the plates with the tracks will overlap when the end frames are moved inward. To prevent the end frames from being drawn too far outward I provide stops therefor; one of said stops consists of a pin 31 extended downward from the under side of the fixed table top near one end, and adapted to be engaged by the cross-bar 17 of one of the frames before described. The cross bar 18 of the other frame is designed to engage with a hook member 32 on one of the cross cleats 7.

The extension portions of the table are each formed of a plurality of slats or strips 33 which have their sides beveled downward and inward, or they may be termed as being of substantially key-stone form in cross section. This is to permit adjacent slats or strips to swing toward each other when passing around the curved portions 22 or 29. The several slats or strips are transversely channeled as indicated at 34 to receive the tracks upon which the slats or strips move, and as is indicated also in Fig. 8, the opposite walls are curved from the center outward, permitting the slats to swing as they pass around the curved portions of the tracks.

The several slats or strips of an end are connected together by means of coiled springs 35 which pass through transverse openings 36 in the strips, and the inner ends of said springs are secured to the fixed portion of the table top, while the other ends are attached to the end slat or strip. These springs also pass through openings 37 in hinged members consisting of tubes 38 which are seated in transversely concave channels 39 formed in opposite sides of said slat-s or strips; that is, a portion of a ing of the slats is prevented.

hinge will engage in the channel at one side of one slat, and the other portion engage in the channel in the adjacent side of the next slat I As the said hinge members may turn readily in the channels it is obvious that the slats may be readily moved around the curved portions of the tracks, and that the said hinge members will keep the outer surfaces of the slats all on a plane with the top of the center portion of the table when the said slats are extended. Instead of the short hinge members just described, I preferably employ at suitable distances apart, hinge members consisting of tubes 40, which extend nearly the entire length of the slats with which they engage. By this alternative arrangement, warp- These tubes of course, are provided with openings through which the springs 35 pass. The center leg ll is attached to the center cleat 7, while the end legs 42 are connected to cleats 43 attached to the under sides of the end frames.

On the upper edges of the end boards of the end frames are hinged bars or members 50 which carry plates 51 designed to rest when the bars are in closed position, upon the slats, so as to form a continuous top. When the end frames are to be moved outward and inward these bars may be swung upward.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An extension table, comprising a fixed central portion having atop, side boards attached thereto, strips fixed parallel with and equidistant from the upper and lower edges of each side board, and longitudinal projections extending inwardly along the upper and lower edges of the side boards; movable end frames each having upper and lower strips fixed thereto on both sides, sliding connections between the strips on the end frames and the strips and projections on the central portion, the top strips of each end frame lying vertically opposite the bottom strips of the opposite end frame, and extension top sections sup ported on the end frames.

2. An extension table, comprising a fixed central portion having a top, side boards attached thereto, strips fixed parallel with and equidistant from the upper and lower edges of each side board, and longitudinal projections extending inwardly along the upper and lower edges of the side boards; movable end frames each having upper and lower strips fixed thereto on both sides, sliding connections between the strips on the end frames and the strips and projections on the central portion, the top strips of each end frame lying vertically opposite the bottom strips of the opposite end frame, tracks or guides attached to said end frames, said tracks having curved ends and lower portions lying in different horizontal planes and between the planes of said strips and projections, whereby they may move one above the other and between the upper and lower sets of strips and projections as the end frames are closed against the central portion, and extension top sections slidably attached to said tracks.

3. An extension table comprising a fixed central portion having a top, side boards attached thereto, strips fixed parallel with and equidistant from the upper and lower edges of each side board, longitudinal projections extending inwardly along the upper and lower edges of the side boards, and an inwardly projecting longitudinal flange or strip on each of said side boards between said projections; movable end frames each having a strip fixed thereto at each side, sliding connections between the strips on the end frames and the strips and projections on the central portion, the strips of one end franieiying vertically opposite the strips of the other end frame, tracks or guides attached to said end frames on each side thereof, said tracks having curved ends and lower portions lying in different horizontal planes and between the planes of said strips and projections, flanges on said tracks below and parallel with said lower horizontal portions, said flanges on the tracks of one end portion being positioned and adapted to slide along said flanges on the side boards, and the flanges on the tracks of the opposite end portion being positioned and adapted to slide along the said lower projections of the side boards, and extension top sections having their edges siidabiy engaged with and supported by said tracks.

4. An extension table, comprising a fixed central portion having a top, a movable end frame slidably connected thereto, tracks mounted opposite each other near each side of the movable end frame, said tracks having similarly curved upper ends and lower portions extending therefrom adapted to be moved beneath the top of the central portion when the end frame is closed in, in combination with a llexible extension top section composed of a series of slats wedge shaped in cross section and of a length approximately equal to the width of the central top portion, said slats being each mounted on the tracks to slide thereon in a direction transverse to its length and with its wide face at the base of the wedge directed outward from the center of curvature of the tracks, said slats having longitudinal grooves of segmental crosssection along the converging faces thereof, and transverse alined openings therethrough, and tubular cylindrical hinge members, having diametrically opposite apertures, rotatably mounted in the adjacent grooves of consecutive slats oi the series, with their apertures in alinement with the openings of the slats, and a flexible connection having one end secured to the fixed central portion, extending through said openings and apertures, and secured at the other end to the terminal slat of the series.

In testimony whereof I havesigned my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing ,witnosses.

, EMORY A. FULLER. Witnesses:

A. J. HALL,

L. R, WHITE. 

